Producer of gay play in Uganda granted bail

KAMPALA, Uganda -- A Ugandan court releases on bail a British producer who was jailed for staging a play about a gay businessman.

Lawyer Francis Onyango said Monday that David Cecil, who spent the weekend in a prison near the Ugandan capital, was granted bail by a magistrate who kept his passport.

This means that Cecil cannot leave the East African country until his case is decided. Officials charge that he disobeyed the orders of the Uganda Media Council when he staged "The River and the Mountain" in Kampala theaters last month. Cecil will return to court on Oct. 18, according to Onyango.

He faces two years in jail if convicted.

The play's main character is a young Ugandan businessman who loses friends and then is murdered after revealing he's gay.